Reach 72"(183 cm)

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Boxing Hero

Errol Spence Jr Bio

Errol Spence Jr. has announced himself as one of boxing's top stars, making quick work of most of his opponents in his rise to becoming a 147-pound world champion. A U.S. Olympian in 2012, the unbeaten southpaw began boxing at age 15 under his father’s guidance.

Spence may not have a ton of ring experience yet, but you can’t entirely blame him—that’s just what happens when you stop most of your opponents in the early rounds.

That’s been a good problem for Spence so far in his professional career, as the Desoto, Texas, resident has only had to go the distance three times in maintaining a perfect record.

The southpaw packs a lot of power, and has shown a real knack for inflicting early damage and then pouncing, putting his opponents away before some fans have even taken their seats.

Errol Spence Jr. fights Andrey Zamkovoy of Russia at the 2012 London Olympics on August 7, 2012.

Early flashes of stardom

Spence has been using that blueprint since his amateur days.

He won the International Amateur Boxing Association world championship in 2008, and then captured the U.S. National Amateur championship three straight years (2009-11).

He won the 147-pound title at the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials before losing in the quarterfinals at the London Games.

Errol Spence Jr. punches Richard Andrews on his way to a third-round TKO in Los Angeles on December 15, 2012.

Developing as a professional

Spence showed his knockout ability in his professional debut in November 2012, finishing off Jonathan Garcia in the third round.

He then KO’d six of his next seven opponents, five of them in the first round.

That’s not to say that Spence can’t last, however. Ronald Cruz went the distance with Spence in Las Vegas in June 2014, but the former Olympian didn’t lose a round and won the 10-round bout by unanimous decision.

“These are the kind of fights I need more of,” Spence told the Las Vegas Review-Journal afterward. “If I’m going to get better, I need to have tough fights like this.”

Errol Spence Jr. hits Javier Castro during their fight in Las Vegas on December 13, 2014.

Taking the next step

Spence followed up his win over Cruz by stopping Noe Bolanos in the second round of their fight in Las Vegas in September 2014, beginning his run of 11-straight knockouts that encompass dethroning England’s Kell Brook for the IBF’s 147-pound title in May 2017. A fifth-round TKO of Javier Castro that December completed Spence’s 5-0 mark in 2014.

Spence vs Bundu Highlights: August 21, 2016.

Continuing to rise through the ranks

Spence had a busy 2015, going 4-0 by stopping Samuel Vargas, Phil LoGreco, Chris van Heerden and Alejandro Berrera all for the first time in their careers. Their combined records were 97-5-1, with LoGreco having lost a 10-rounder to former champion Shawn Porter in 2013.

That dominance continued in 2016, when Spence scored three knockdowns during a fifth-round TKO of former 140-pound champion Chris Algieri in April and a pair of final-round knockdowns during a sixth-round KO of Leonard Bundu in August—which drew big TV ratings.

The telecast, which immediately followed the U.S. men’s basketball team’s gold medal-winning victory over Serbia on the final day of the Rio Olympics, averaged 4.8 million viewers, with a peak of more than 6.3 million. That makes it the biggest television audience for boxing in 18 years.

Algieri had suffered 12-round unanimous decision losses to former champions Manny Pacquiao (2014) and Amir Khan (2015), and Bundu the same against undefeated current titleholder Keith Thurman (2014), rising from a first-round knockdown.

Brook vs Spence Highlights: May 27, 2017. (Showtime Sports)

Championship glory

Spence traveled to Sheffield, England, in May 2017, where he dethroned Brook before 27,000 Brits. Spence scored 10th-and final-round knockdowns of Brook, who suffered a broken orbital bone in his severely swollen left eye.

In Brook, Spence defeated a man who dethroned Porter and became the first American to earn a title from an English champion on foreign soil since 2008 when Tim Bradley upset Junior Witter in Nottingham for a 140-pound title.

Peterson had rebounded from a 143-pound majority decision loss to two-division champion Danny Garcia in 2015 with a majority decision win over Felix Diaz in October 2015 and a unanimous decision victory over David Avaneysyan in February 2017.

“It’s a factor when guys go the distance with other fighters and I knock them out. I always want to outperform my foes,” said Spence, adding that he wants “to rule with an iron fist” and “be pound-for-pound No. 1.”

“There’s a lot of people salivating for me to be No. 1, and I should be by next year. A unification fight with the winner between Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter is probably going to happen during the first quarter of next year. Hopefully I’ll be mentioned as an all-time great like Sugar Ray Leonard and Floyd Mayweather, and Tommy Hearns and Oscar De La Hoya.”